How much coolant will it take.
Have water heater attached - much more with that?
Best way to drain/collect/ flush?
Premix or straight?

Any other info anyone can supply?
Cheers!

Nice Main engine semus , same as mine. You will find the water heater may not loose the coolant in the lines when you dump the heat exchanger.
I try to use straight coolant rather than premix as water quality changes depending where you are. does the coolent need changing or are you just taking precautions?
Its worth running a bucket of premix coolant through your raw water pick up I was advised after my raw water jabsco obtained a leak due to a failed seal.

what RPM do you cruise on at 6 knots?

I lost some coolant into the bilge when bringing her up from Hobart. It wasn't a great deal but I had none spare and had to top it up with h2o. I'm looking to err on the side of caution and do a change over for the sake of corrosion inhibition.
So do you flush it at all mate???
I'd have to get back to you on the rpm. I can visualise it on the tachograph but will have to look at it to be sure.

To be honest I have not got around to flushing it yet as I have had more important jobs and I'm of the understanding it was done prior to purchase as a condition of purchase I wanted the cooling systems checked as it was not pumping water when taken to the slip for survey. i have only topped it up once since 250 hours after installing a new hot water system.
How often to you flush your radiator in your car? I have the service recommendations on my yacht for the m50 but unfotrtantly I'm away for a few more weeks I'm sure it can be googled.

i did solve one problem since the purchase that effected starting. It took about 5 to 10 revolutions to start when cold but now turns half a turn of the key every time instantly , is your starting the same?
Regards
southace

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southace said..
To be honest I have not got around to flushing it yet as I have had more important jobs and I'm of the understanding it was done prior to purchase as a condition of purchase I wanted the cooling systems checked as it was not pumping water when taken to the slip for survey. i have only topped it up once since 250 hours after installing a new hot water system.
How often to you flush your radiator in your car? I have the service recommendations on my yacht for the m50 but unfotrtantly I'm away for a few more weeks I'm sure it can be googled.

i did solve one problem since the purchase that effected starting. It took about 5 to 10 revolutions to start when cold but now turns half a turn of the key every time instantly , is your starting the same?
Regards
southace

Found that the slow starting on my m30 was a faulty glow plug relay - $6 fix from jcar.

The glow plugs don't seem to make any difference to mine....I thought that was the problem originally but now I fixed the fuel it can be 12 degrees and will start first ping half turn of the key everytime ..good thing about this is it doesn't draw my battery down as it did before.

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southace said..
The glow plugs don't seem to make any difference to mine....I thought that was the problem originally but now I fixed the fuel it can be 12 degrees and will start first ping half turn of the key everytime ..good thing about this is it doesn't draw my battery down as it did before.

Yeah, that's the other starting issue, a slight leak in an o-ring and diesel can leak back and you get a small amount of air in the system.

How many containers of coolant do I need to buy lads!???? Lol

I think you will find a 5 litre will be ample if not buy another and you may end up with spare which is all ways good to have.

I have a volvo MD22 which I believe is exactly the same as a perkins prima 50 - I have used parts from the perkins prima on mine as they are a lot cheaper than the green ones for some reason???

A great engine - I have been told to watch out for glazing of the cylinder bores from not running with enough load and keeping an eye on the raw water pump as it is driven directly off the end of the camshaft - if you get a leaky seal in the raw water pump salt water can enter the camshaft and seize it - not nice.

The only other thing to watch is the cam shaft is run from a belt - which need replacing every 500 hours or so.

Lastly, I believe that this engine is the same long engine as the 2.2L BMC engine which was used to power most of the black cabs in the UK.

mines done over 4000 hours and runs well. 1800rpm sees me about 5 knots, 2200 - 6 knots, 3000 7.5 with a clean bum.

Nice one gents... cheers. Now... anyone done their own timing belt?

My previous yacht had a BMC Thornycroft marine diesel. I was informed this was what was used in the Black London cabs.

If they used the Perkins Prima as a replacemet to the Thornycroft that's new news for me.

The raw water Jabsco in my current Perkins had a drip due to a rusted drive shaft and failed seal. I can't see how the salt water could travel up the shaft and into the cam shaft compartment.
Also the over head cam appeared to be running in oil supplied by the sump and my guess would be it runs on a chain drive or gear drive......however I could be wrong.
Mjy friends also run volvos and assumed they where the same as the Perkins but when we looked at lending me a starter motor to get me home after my starter blew up it was evident that the gear was diffrent however it maybe based on the same block.

I have a feeling that I actually have the M60 Prima not the m50 as stated in my survey report. But all I know at 3000rpm my main would be ready to throw something.....even at 2500 is a risk.
I cruise 1750rpm @ 6.2 knots with a clean bum. 7knots @2000rpm

This is the Volvo MD22 - you can see the water pump at the end of the camshaft.


This is the Prima M50

Yes same as mine. There is a large slot on the raw water pump where the water was dripping I'm guessing this is there to expel any leaking water before it hits the cam case. I could only inspect the end of the cam when I had the pump removed and it didn't show any signs of water ingress. If there is a belt drive I suspect it would be on the front casing of the motor? Perhaps under the casing you can see on my pic.
i thought I could here some slackness in a timing chain on start up on my donk.but yes it maybe just a belt.

regards
southace

Just spoke to a mate who has the md22s in his Cat, the timimg belt is under the forward casing you can inspect it. He also said his model raw water pump actually runs on a small belt driver rather than mechanical connection to the Cam which is diffrent to the Perkins model. He also suggested that coolent should be changed every 2 years if possible.

if its not yellow its a pussie

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HG02 said..
if its not yellow its a pussie

Really? Ever looked at a Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C ? 110,000 horse power. Yes it is a marine diesel.

We also build ship motors in partnership in Korea Loose. Hope every thing goes well for you through the health system

L.C. these other than rebuilds cost Zero to run the fuel comes from the local tips as methane and these bad boys run up to 80,000 hours before rebuilds
and put power back into the grid.
And help keep the methane levels down in the atmosphere .
I just love that idea

Hello Everyone,

Does somebody have a copy of the service manual for the Perkins Prima M50?

Some days ago after a sailing trip, I got about 1,5 liter oil out from the drain pump, the alarm was activated so I stoped the engine immediately. After that I cleaned all the mess under the engine, drained out all the oil in the engine (about 2,2 liters) and filled with new oil. I added also a valve to the output of the manual drain pump, so that it is 100% sure that oil will not comes out from there.
I am wondering if I have some excess of oil pressure in the engine? Does somebody here has the same problem?
The engine has runned about 5920 hours and I bought the sailboat used recently, no history of maintenance or service has been found or even the user or service manual.

I hope somebody here can send me a PDF of the manual or can come with some comments about this oil issue.

Here are some pictures after I cleaned the oil who came out of the yellow oil hose, I added the little valve on the end of it as you see on the second picture.

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Beneteau445 said..

I am wondering if I have some excess of oil pressure in the engine? Does somebody here has the same problem?

I have come across similar problems on other types of engines when a crankcase pressure valve has become faulty. An engine with 6000 hrs may be producing more than normal blow by, causing excessive pressure build up in the crankcase,,, forcing the oil out if the valve is not relieving this pressure,,, or if you have no valve, a blocked up breather oil separator gauze/filter it will do the same.


A simple test is to open the oil filler cap carefully whilst the engine is running and listen/feel for excessive escaping pressure.

Be aware that all coolants aren't the same. Sure, they all do the same job, but it's better to use the one recommended by the manufacturer. In the case of Perkins, their ELC. (Extended Life Coolant)
They also state that the ratio is 50% coolant/water. Which is pretty standard ratio for most coolant systems.

If you lose a small amount of coolant, it's perfectly acceptable to top it up with clean water. Or if you're anal like me with my Wasserboxer engine in my Kombi, alternate with water one time and coolant the next. As an example of coolant types, the water cooled VW boxer can't use the standard old green coolant, as it doesn't do enough to protect against corrosion and the head studs (which are in the water jacket) will rust. I have to use red, or the VW proprietary purple G12 coolant.